Second Mistakes
by Ayla27
Summary: Luke and Ethan are revived. The two of them have to find a way to accomplish their mission or else. "You shouldn't lie. It's what makes things complicated." "Tch. But in all honesty, the truth itself is so much more complicated."
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and others. Nope. I don't.. . . . . Hope you like it. Sorry in advance for any errors or what not.

AN: This is set after Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian.

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><p>Chapter 1: Aphrodite's Curse on Luke<p>

"If you'll just let me explain, please Annabeth." Luke pleaded as he tried to follow her around. Annabeth paid no attention to him and continued on walking briskly. Begging left an awful taste in Luke's mouth, and her ignorance left a painful pang in his heart. She didn't even glance at him.

"Annabeth, please!" Luke pulled Annabeth's wrist as he caught up with her, forcing her to face him. He should've seen it coming. He felt his head twist by the force of her slap. He held his left cheek and closed his eyes as he tried to regain his composure. He knew he deserved it, after kissing her a while ago. But couldn't she at least express some joy in the fact that he was alive? Really, after being a hero and killing Kronos.

He opened his eyes. Annabeth's stormy gray eyes were staring at him; surprisingly there were no sign of tears in those orbs. They only held hurt, confusion and anger. He thought that he could see a bit of regret and sadness too. He gazed at her form. She stood there in front of him, her arms folded in front of her. He hadn't had a chance to observe her earlier, given his impulsive action. Her beautiful curly blond hair grew longer up to her waist and she no longer wore her hair in a ponytail; an eyeglass was perched on the front pocket of her blue blouse; her dark jeans fit against her legs. She sure has changed after a long time. She was no longer the little girl who was infatuated with him.

"Well, welcome back Luke. I think a _welcome_ _kiss_ was enough for you. What do you want now? A welcome hug too?" She asked him, her voice dripping with sarcasm. She sure was feisty as ever. He never knew he was so lucky to have another chance to be with them again, with _her. _On the second thought, he wasn't as lucky as he thought to be.

"I'm sorry Annabeth. I didn't know what I was doing—" He tried to think of any reason to justify his action, anything, something, as long as it wasn't the truth. Because the truth didn't set him free, it hurt him and killed him. And we all know that Luke has had enough of the dying part.

"Of course you didn't. You never really think Luke." Annabeth's words couldn't pierce his heart any more than an eraser could. His frustration didn't stem from his lack of intelligence, it was quite the opposite. He was too smart for his own good. He glanced behind Annabeth and saw something that made him more frustrated. "_It wasn't supposed to be this way." _Luke thought. He gazed at the gray eyed girl once again. He was too smart that he forgot to include the single fact in his plans.

"It's just that I was so happy that I saw you again and –" "_I was so happy to see her again but it wasn't really a reunion that I expected." _He was cut off again by Annabeth's snarky retorts.

"So happy, that you would kiss me in front of them? You're lying. It's good that Percy wasn't here, or else you'd find yourself in Elysium once again." He wished that what Annabeth said about being in Elysium was true, but he didn't think he like the fact that he'd be there again sooner than expected.

"Annabeth. . . . do you love me?" Luke suddenly asked her. He couldn't bear being alone. The loneliness made him wish that he wasn't revived after all. It was ungrateful of him to think so but his plans were going awry especially when she was being uncooperative. He glanced again, only to find that person gone. He'd have to do it in some other way then but he still had to continue what he was doing now.

"You've already asked that question, and my answer still remains the same." She shook her head, she wouldn't stare at him. "I have Percy, Luke. Stop lying. You can't do this. It's unfair, to him. . . . to_her._" Her voice cracked. She looked at the ground between them and she fisted her hands at her sides. He wasn't surprised at Annabeth's deductions. She was living up to the name of being a daughter of Athena. Nevertheless, he acted as if he understood nothing of what she has just said.

"What are you talking about? Unfair to whom? You do know that there is nothing fair when it comes to love." He severely declared as he thought about his misfortunes. Aphrodite must hate him very much for him to be this so unfortunate.

"Stop it Luke. Stop acting as if you don't know anything. Just stop. Okay? You love her. Not me. You love Thalia. Thalia Grace. Not me, Annabeth Chase who is in love with Percy Jackson. Get it? You don't need to be a son of Athena to know that right? Right?" Annabeth apparently hasn't lost her temper even after these years. Tears slid down her face as she lifted her head and glared at Luke. Luke couldn't help but feel guilty and depressed.

He reached out to wipe her tears away with his thumb. She slapped his hand away. Luke then did something unexpected. He just smiled at her. He smiled a bitter smile, deciding that the game was already up. His secret was laid out in the open, though only a part of it. He was in love with the girl who couldn't love him back.

"Yes. I know that." "_Yet knowing doesn't make anything hurt less. Not at all." _Luke just stared off to where Thalia was standing moments ago.

"Then why? Why are you being so irrational? Why?" she demanded answers from Luke. _I don't know, Annabeth. I don't know either_ was what he wanted to say. His lips moved on their own accord.

"Because love is irrational, that's why." Annabeth wiped her tears away. He felt so guilty once more but he decided that there was nothing else he could do, for he knew that the whole truth would be harder for Annabeth to handle.

The truth that would soon be shocking everybody.

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><p>Author's Notes: So. Uh. Yeah. Pairing is still undecided, and details are a bit unclear but I'll try to clarify things later on. Reviews are greatly appreciated. :D<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own anything here, except this insane plot. Reviews are really appreciated. :D

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><p>Chapter 2: Ethan's Musings<p>

"You kissed Annabeth." Ethan deadpanned. They were in a reserve cabin, one of the cabins that the camp kept for unsorted demigods, but in their case they were special guests. He was sitting on the bed while Luke was pacing around the room. He knew he didn't have to state the obvious. He just liked to torture Luke. And it really was a surprise for him that Luke would do such a thing. Sadly for him, Luke didn't seem react to this barb. He just stopped walking and stared at Ethan with his piercing blue eyes. He raised an eyebrow as if to say "Yeah, so?"

"She slapped you." Ethan deadpanned once again, as he stared at Luke's reddish cheek. This time, Luke visibly flinched and glared at him. Ethan couldn't help but lose his poker face and smirk. _Ha, I gotcha._ Ethan thought. Payback for the time Luke was bossing him around before. He wasn't the son of Nemesis just by name. He watched Luke run his hand through his blonde hair and pace once again around their room. He could feel Luke's frustration permeate the air as he muttered to himself before looking back at Ethan.

"You know, you're lucky that I'm kind enough not to poke your other eye out." Luke threatened him. Ethan just rolled his eye, as he only had one good eye. He just couldn't get what Luke wanted to do with his second life. It was obvious for him who Luke really liked. Judging from the stolen glances Ethan caught Luke giving to her and the cliché plan of making your loved one jealous, it was clear to him that Thalia was the one that Luke liked. _Maybe Luke has a psychotic disorder? Oh wait, he is crazy._

When they arrived at the camp earlier, he clearly saw Luke gazing at Thalia as they were walking towards the camp. She was standing there with all her punk glory, her piercing blue eyes were staring straight at them and a smile was hanging on her lips. Luke was about to approach her when a hunter reached Thalia. The hunter was treating Thalia with so much respect, even bowing before she went away. The reality dawned on Luke, the horror was clearly written in his eyes. Thalia was a hunter. Ethan noticed Annabeth approaching them and he was about to acknowledge her when Luke suddenly stopped in front of her and kissed her.

He saw Thalia's face went from warm to cold. It was suddenly dark as rain clouds hovered above them. He could feel a little electricity in the air. Ethan looked at Annabeth to see her reaction. She was staring at Luke with wide eyes and she was touching her lips when she turned around and walked briskly away.

Luke gave furtive glances at Thalia while he and Annabeth were talking. The slap was completely unsurprising, though it's a bit late reaction. Ethan could only shake his head at the situation. It was only approximately thirty minutes since they have arrived and Luke was already wreaking havoc again, which brought them to their current predicament.

"You know, making a certain someone jealous just because you're frustrated is so old school." Ethan pointed out. _And not to mention stupid. _Ethan thought it was pointless of Luke to make Thalia jealous, mainly because of the fact that she was Artemis' lieutenant and it's just hurting them both. Not to mention the fact that Luke was also dragging Annabeth into his problem.

"It's all part of the plan. You'll see. Things are going smoothly." Luke said confidently. Ethan sensed that Luke was not telling the whole truth. He stared at Luke, an expressionless look on his face. It was enough to say that Ethan did not believe him. _Yeah right, and I have two eyes. _Ethan inwardly thought.

"Okay, maybe things are a tiny bit messy right now." Luke exasperatedly stated. Ethan still stared at him, if only he still had his other he could do another eye roll that isn't awkward and a full forced glare. Maybe he could ask his eye back from his mother. On the second thought, he'd rather not ask for his eye back; he liked his eye patch.

"Fine. Things are going horribly. I pulled that kissing stunt to make Thalia come back to me but I kind of forgot that she's a hunter now." Luke grumpily admitted. Ethan smirked once again at the Luke's predicament. It was typical of Luke to do things rashly. To see him lose composure was in the top ten list of Ethan's "Must See".

"And the lieutenant of Artemis to add to that fact" Ethan gleefully reminded Luke of Thalia's position. He decided that torturing Luke would be his new hobby. A question popped into Ethan's head like a mushroom when he realized Luke couldn't have just thought of his actions on his own. No matter how Luke looked stupid to Ethan, there has got to be some limit to his stupidity. A certain goddess entered his mind.

"Is that why you were revived? Did Aphrodite order you to do that or something?" Ethan curiously asked for he knew that Aphrodite was the one responsible for their revival, so there must be something that she wanted them to do. After all, Ethan's mission was to just accompany Luke through his second life though that seemed to be a weird request coming for the goddess of love and beauty._Unless the goddess wanted to make us into a couple . . . . . _Ethan visibly shuddered at that thought._No freaking way would I allow that to happen. I'd rather die again. _

"Why don't you take a guess?" Luke said mysteriously. With that said, Ethan was even more confused by Luke. He was starting to sense his head ache. _This is going to be one hell of second life._

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><p>Lalalalala. Still thinking about the pairing, any suggestion? xD<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

AN: I don't own the characters and all.

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><p>Chapter 3: Luke's Frustrations<p>

"I can't believe it." Luke muttered as he stood in front of a huge mirror, staring at his reflection. _Is this. . . is this really me?_He touched the mirror as if to reach out and grab the unknown person standing in front of him. He has changed a lot since being revived. Gone was the Luke that he knew. And it has greatly annoyed him.

Ethan was just lying on his bed, staring at Luke as he was becoming more and more deranged as the days go by. It's been three days since they have arrived at camp. The past three days have been a blur. Days were spent with Luke constantly brooding and Ethan following him like a chaperone. Luke also tried to talk to Thalia, but that ended up with Luke getting electrocuted.

"What? Are you falling for yourself or something? Because Narcissus already did that, and we really don't need another one like him. " Ethan cynically commented as Luke kept on staring at the mirror. As if Ethan would understand what Luke was going through. He was suffering greatly under Aphrodite's supposed blessing. _I should've stayed dead._Luke thought glumly.

"No, you idiot. I know I'm handsome and all, I can't deny that fact. But I am definitely not gay and definitely not falling for myself like that idiot who fell in love with his own reflection." Luke stated with conviction as he tore off his gaze from the mirror to glare at Ethan. He may have changed but he was still definitely straight.

_Maybe it's time I tell my mission to Ethan, maybe he could help me. . . . oh what the heck. Me? Asking for help?_Luke battled with his pride. _Oh please, you begged for Annabeth's help last time before Kronos possessed you and a lot of times._His inner voice argued back. Really, Luke should've known to stay dead than to accept some crazy goddess' scheme and get insane. His inner voice won.

"Do you remember how we were revived by Aphrodite?" Luke suddenly asked Ethan.

"No." Ethan swiftly answered while shrugging his shoulders.

". . . . Well then, do you remember why you were revived by Aphrodite?" Luke asked Ethan once again.

"Why don't you take a guess?" Ethan mocked Luke as he sat up. Luke was about to try out his hypothesis about how life would be better if he just strangled his one eyed companion. Ethan must've sensed Luke's murderous intent and decided that he wanted to live a little longer.

"Aphrodite just told me to accompany you, honestly." Ethan answered and raised his hands in surrender, surprising Luke with his answer. He didn't have to beg for Ethan's help. "Though I'd rather eat my eye patch" Ethan muttered under his breathe. Luke felt his hand twitch, wishing to strangle Ethan but he just ignored his desire. _Control Luke, control. You've experienced so much worse before. If you kill him no one will help you. But wait. . ._

"What? How come you get an easy mission?" Luke complained, stomping his feet like a child throwing a tantrum. _Oh come on. Seriously, shouldn't a hero like him get a rest or what?_He could see Ethan stifling his laughter.

"Easy? You call staying with a psycho like you easy?" Ethan retorted and rolled his eye. _Who was he calling crazy?_

"UGHH! I hate Aphrodite. This is all her fault! Assigning me with some stupid mission of making Thalia quit being a huntress, making me uncool and uncollected, making me lovesi-." Luke stopped his ranting when he realized what he was saying. He felt his eye twitch. He said too much.

"Oh, so that's your mission." Ethan said thoughtfully as he scratched his chin. If he noticed Luke's blunder at the end of his sentence, he didn't show it. "But. . . isn't that the same as killing Thalia?"

"Yeah, that's what I thought too. Aphrodite told me in my dream last night." He paused, hesitating to tell Ethan what he knows. Finally deciding that he was to trust Ethan if they have to work together, he continued talking. "That there's a way to save her from dying after breaking the vow, if I was successful with my mission." Luke stated indifferently.

He wasn't so sure himself whether the goddess of love could do something like protecting Thalia from the rebound of breaking Artemis' vow. He could see the gears in Ethan's mind whirling as he was trying to unravel the mystery (psycho) called Luke.

"But you don't want to, do you?" Ethan asked Luke uncharacteristically with sympathy. Luke stared at him and saw a touch of concern and curiosity in his pseudo-friend's eye. The question strike at Luke's heart, making him mentally flinch.

"I. . . don't know." Luke untruthfully and turned his gaze away from Ethan. Luke lifted his hand to his head and massaged his forehead.

"You shouldn't lie. It's what makes things complicated." Ethan advised him. Luke turned to look at him once again with contempt.

"Tch. But in all honesty, the truth itself is so much more complicated." Luke retorted. _Truth. . tch. Stupid love. . . stupid goddesses and their fetish for power play._

"Well, I think it's simple. It's either you're brave enough to go after the girl you like or you're a coward. Aphrodite was kind enough to give you a chance with her." Ethan bluntly stated as he stared back at Luke, trying to convince him the simplicity of things. _And he calls me the crazy one._

"You make it sound like it's so easy to do that." Luke pulled his hair. If things were that easy, it would be a walk in the park for Luke.

"Isn't it? You just go and court her." Ethan replied. Luke was increasingly becoming frustrated with his inexperienced companion. Surely it's because Ethan hasn't fallen for someone yet.

"It's not that easy okay! You have to consider other's feelings to you know!" Luke was spilling too much information for his comfort. He had to stop or Ethan would find out. He saw Ethan's eye narrow at him.

"Consider whose feelings?" He asked Luke suspiciously. Ethan suddenly looked like a flashbulb lighted up in his brain.

"Oh. Never mind. . . But, if you have to consider Thalia's feelings, I think she likes you too." Luke raised his eyebrow at him. _He got it all wrong._Luke thought exasperatedly. _Besides, I don't believe that Thalia likes me too. . . And what's up with Ethan trying to be kind to me?_

Ethan must've read Luke's confusion on his face. "Don't be mistaken, I'm not trying to be kind to you. I just want to finish our mission fast so we can be free. And I don't want a bunch of fan girls rabidly chasing me when Aphrodite punishes us for our failure." A mental image of Ethan running around with girls holding ropes and girlish horror chasing after him entered Luke's felt his lips twitch up, but deep inside he laughing maniacally.

"I think I'd pay a large amount of money just to see that punishment happen Ethan." Luke smirked. "But since I guess I'll get punished too if that happens, I'll stick to accomplishing our mission."

"You better be." Ethan threatened Luke.

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><p>Readers, are you there? Hi. Hello. Reviews are greatly appreciated. And by greatly appreciated I mean needed. . . . or at least let me know you're there? :))<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Don't own any characters or whatever. Obviously.

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><p>Chapter 4: Eavesdropping Ethan<p>

Ethan stared at the arguing couple from afar. He could feel the energy cackling in the air even though he was far away from the possible cause of the disturbance in the atmosphere. Dark clouds loomed over the camp, and even though it was very rare to have rain there, he couldn't shake off the feeling that he'd be drenched with rain water today.

The sky lighted up, illuminating the surroundings, showing for a brief moment Thalia's agonized face and Luke's pleading face. The trees around them were swaying and the playful nymphs were not in sight.

Other campers were also nowhere to be found, perhaps they were still sleeping. _Or they could be hiding from the battle that would ensue between the two powerful but lovesick demigods. Can't say I blame them though. _Ethan thought.

Ethan glanced at his dark blue leather watch. The long hand was pointing to twelve and the short hand was pointing to six. Luke was such an early riser and an annoying person. Ethan could see that Thalia would agree with his description as she was glaring rather scarily at the son of Hermes with her electrifying blue eyes.

"The sun hasn't even risen yet. And there he goes, ruining the day," Ethan muttered to himself while shaking his head. The heavens thundered as if to agree with him. _"Should I go and stop them before blood is spilled?"_ He thought about it for a while. _Naaaaah. He can handle himself. _

And also, he decided he wanted to see Luke get electrified. Ethan smirked and adjusted his eye patch that has somehow become lose. While he was doing that, he saw Thalia point accusingly at Luke.

He could hear some of the profane and colorful things that she was saying. And being himself, he nodded and agreed. "_You tell him, Thalia_!" Ethan cheered her on mentally but at the same time he was thanking all the deities out there that he wasn't the one being grilled by her.

Her black hair, that for some reason that he couldn't fathom was untied, was flying freely bearing a resemblance to Medusa's hair. Ethan shuddered at that thought. Luke just stood there; Ethan could only assume that he was paralyzed with fear.

Everybody knew how scary Thalia can be; especially with Zeus being her father and she being the daughter, she has inherited his powers. _Everybody _knew. Well, everybody who was in the right mind. The sky flashed once again.

"YOU PSYCHOTIC BASTARD! YOU JUST SUDDENLY COME HERE UNEXPLAINED AND THEN YOU GO CAUSING TROUBLE AGAIN! YOU STUPID PIECE OF –"

The thunder overpowered Thalia's voice at the last moment. It must've been her dad trying to censor her. The wind picked up its speed, making the trees sway more violently and leaves swirl around the camp.

Ethan was now contemplating whether he needed to intervene before she accidentally kills Luke. To his own surprise, he was defending his some-what friend in his mind. "_Hey, he did write a letter trying to explain what happened to the camp. I saw him send it."_

He saw Thalia continued to shout. Both of them we're shivering, although Thalia was shaking harder. Whether it was because of the emotions that were raging in their bodies or because of the erratic weather conditions, Ethan didn't know.

"YOU HAVE NO RIGHT! YOU LISTEN TO ME LUKE! YOU GO DYING ON US AND THEN SURPRISING US LIKE THIS WITHOUT ANY LOGICAL REASON AT ALL! YOU EXPECT US TO UNDERSTAND AND JUST ACCEPT THIS ABNORMALITY?"

This was getting bad. Ethan have never seen her so angry and emotional before. What was it with girls nowadays? Do they all change so drastically after how many years? _I'm one to talk. _Ethan suddenly thought as he realized he wasn't safe from the thing people often avoid like the plague, _change_.

Ethan realized Luke wasn't even trying to defend himself. He was just standing there, looking at Thalia as she raged on. His faced betrayed no emotions, it was simply blank. But his eyes were another thing. He saw Thalia calm down a bit, she was trying to stop her body trembling but to no avail.

The wind died a little. Thalia opened her mouth once more but she did not shout this time. Ethan strained his ears to hear what she was saying but he could not hear the words she let go.

He tried to read her mouth but he was too far away. Whatever Thalia has said, it had a much bigger effect on Luke than when she shouted. It looked like Luke was just punched but she wasn't within a feet of him.

Ethan finally saw Luke open his mouth and say something although he wasn't shouting like Thalia earlier; Ethan knew what his companion was saying.

"I'm sorry."

He saw Thalia hug her herself and shake her head. She said something again but she was ignored. Luke took a step towards her but she took another step back, maintaining the distance between them. Ethan tried to look away from this scene but he couldn't.

A morbid sense of curiosity fed him the courage to continue looking at the arguing couple.

It looked like Thalia has regained her (very) loud voice since she started raging once more. "NO! NO! STAY AWAY FROM ME!" The pain on Luke's face looked more prominent more than ever after Thalia's rejection.

Ethan was surprised when he felt something sliding down his left eye. He couldn't possibly be doing what he thinks he was doing. He felt the dread that gripped his heart ease a little bit when he felt another drop of water, on his head this time.

He couldn't feel pity for Luke. He knew it would be the worst thing he could feel for him. He looked away when he realized he was intruding too much on the two broken people's privacy.

He turned around and walked towards their cabin. _I'm going away now to have some time alone to myself and to stay dry, yeah that's it. I'm not going away because I feel guilty spying on them. Nope. _ He thought. Ethan sighed to himself. He was bad at lying.

He continued to walk away slowly, removing his eye patch and pocketing it so that it wouldn't get wet. The rain started to get harder. He stopped walking. _Maybe I should tell them to go inside. _

Not minding that he was already getting wet and contradicting his earlier intentions, he turned around to go to them but what he saw made him turn around to the cabin once again. This time he walked briskly.

What he saw was what he could only describe with one word. _Melancholy. _Luke was hugging Thalia and she was limp against his show of affection. The rain continued to pour down on them, making their hair and clothes darker, masking their tears.

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><p>AN: Comments? Suggestions? Anyone? Lol<p> 


	5. Chapter 5

Dislaimer: I own nothing here except this angsty, dramatic, non-sensical plot.

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><p>Chapter 5: Friends in Denial<p>

"Luke, making girls cry is a bad hobby," Ethan solemnly advised his friend Luke, who was currently lying on his bed with an ice pack on his face. Ethan inwardly smirked and walked around the room.

"Like provoking me into beating the hell out of you is a good hobby?" Luke retorted as he removed the ice pack from his face to glare at Ethan. Luke's left eye was blackened and he had a bruise on his right cheek.

"Point taken, but I believe that torturing one's self also isn't a fine thing to do," Ethan pointed out his friend's injury. _Psychotic and now he's got suicidal tendencies. _Ethan thought to himself exasperatedly.

Luke flinched at the mention of his injuries. He mumbled something that Ethan couldn't hear well. _Huh? Did he just say something about Thalia?_

Luke cleared his throat and muttered a sentence. "What did you say? Speak up, I can't understand what you're saying when you're eating your words," Ethan coaxed him to speak louder.

"I said I didn't hurt myself," Luke said in a strangled voice. _Then who did that to him? Was it? . . . _

Ethan just had a 'light bulb' moment. Luke also had the 'I wish I was dead again' moment.

_Must be a good friend. Must not laugh. _Ethan thought as his lips got thinner and thinner. His only eye got a bit watery as he tried to stop from laughing out loud, especially when he heard his dear friend complain.

"Will you stop staring at me?" Luke demanded indignantly at Ethan. He did not like the look on Ethan's face one bit, not at all.

_Can't hold it. He's staring at me. . . I can't. . . What the hell. _Pfffftttt. ._ ._Ethan thought before he burst out laughing. "HAHAHAHAHA. I'm sorry, Luke. Hahahaha. I just can't." He clutched his stomach.

"I mean . . . ahahaha. . . . you look ridiculous!" he laughed out loud, almost lying on the floor.

Luke just groaned and placed the ice pack on his face once again. "Oh shut up, like you don't look ridiculous with your eye patch. Are you finished laughing?"

There was silence in their cabin as Ethan's laughter died out. "Hey, my eye patch is awesome. So, what happened? I mean, I thought you and Thalia were going well a while ago," _And by going well, I mean Thalia crying her heart out not punching the living daylights out of you. _Ethan thought sarcastically.

"I tried to talk to her," Luke said quietly as he avoided Ethan's piercing gaze. Luke was on 'I'm-calm–and-perfectly-fine-and-that-makes-me-so-great' mode again.

"That's bullshit, all I saw was Thalia screaming her head off and then you were just standing there doing nothing," _Well, he did say sorry and hug her at the end, but honestly. . ._

Luke just stayed silent, staring at the windows being attacked by the heavy rain.

"Why? Why are you doing this?" Ethan asked, seriously wondering what all the unnecessary pain he was going through for.

"It's for the mission," Luke stated in a voice that told him that the answer was obvious. He was still staring at the window, seemingly mesmerized by the gloomy view.

"Mission? I thought your mission was to make Thalia quit being a hunter, not hurt everybody you care for, including yourself." Ethan was getting angry. He didn't know why he was so affected by this. _I must be getting really irritated by his stupidity._

"It's a part of the plan, you'll see soon enough." Luke suddenly smiled tiredly and stared off into space, like he was envisioning the future where he already accomplished his mission.

A future that Ethan couldn't see right now. _Soon enough my face. _Ethan thought darkly.

"Quit being in denial Luke, your plans are anything but successful." Ethan stated bluntly, not caring if he was hurting Luke with his words. He needed to know the truth.

Luke just sighed in reply. Luke just shook his head and looked at him sadly, as if he was the one who didn't understand what was going on. Something in Ethan suddenly snapped. _Something is wrong._

"Don't act as if I'm the one who doesn't understand what's going on, Castellan. And don't act as if everything is going the way you want it to be, when I know and you know that it's not!" Ethan said angrily, his hands were clenched in tight fists.

"Are you sure you understand what's going on Nakamura?" Luke stared at Ethan, he raised his eyebrow at him as if to challenge Ethan's words. "As I said before, my plan may have failed earlier but I assure you things are going smoothly right now." Luke coolly replied.

"You arrogant fool! This is why Annabeth and Thalia are angry at you right now! You're too full of yourself and a pathological liar! Why can't you face the truth and stop hurting everybody?"

Ethan ranted on, not caring that he was letting his guard down and showing Luke what he really feels. Luke held on to his cool façade and stared at Ethan without any emotions on his face.

"Why can't you stop hurting yourself? And don't lie about not being hurt at all. If there's only one thing true about what's going on right now, it's that you're hurt more than anybody could be," Ethan said softly as he tried to make sense of everything. _Oh man, I can't believe I said that. Where did that even come from? _Ethan mentally ranted though he felt strangely lighter. Ethan saw an emotion flicker in Luke's eyes. _Was it happiness? It can't be. ._

"I didn't know you care so much for me, Nakamura. Here I thought you were trying to annoy me to death," Luke smirked at Ethan as he sat up the bed.

_Oh shoot. _Ethan paled at Luke's remark. He tried to regain his dignity and reputation by making his usual remarks and imitating what Luke said.

"Ah, you got me there, I almost hoped you wouldn't notice that I was trying to annoy you to death. And don't be so big-headed, I'm not concerned for you, exactly. As I said before, my concern lies with the accomplishment of the mission because of Aphrodite's curse," Ethan said as a matter fact, turning around to hide his face from Luke.

"Lying doesn't suit you," Luke stated. Ethan rolled his eye. He opened his mouth to insult Luke when somebody knocked on the door.

"I'll get it." Luke oddly volunteered as he stood up and got off the bed. He faced the door with his back to Ethan, and his hand on the door knob.

"Nakamura, from the beginning this mission is supposed to be painful," Luke inhaled deeply."You can't love and at the same not feel pain or get hurt even a little. This is Aphrodite we're talking about. I hope this answers your questions," Luke said in an emotionless voice. The meaning behind Luke's words rang inside Ethan's head. _He__ can't stop the pain they were all feeling._

_I guess he's right. There was no way that they won't be hurt in the process, but still. . . _Ethan thought glumly. He frowned when he realized that Luke proved to him that he was wrong.

The person behind the door knocked once again, a little bit louder this time.

Luke finally opened the door and Ethan was surprised with the familiar face that he saw. _What the hell? _

"Long time, no see, Percy."

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><p>AN: It's Percy! Percy Weasley! LOL. Reviews please? :)<p> 


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